Foamers (7 page)

Gripping the filthy steering wheel, Kade tried to keep from peering at Grace. He
tried not to compare her to Ashton. He tried not to feel bad for her. He tried to
listen to Mick, but he couldn’t believe Grace could kill her brother in the hopes
of earning favor with the group. Mostly, he couldn’t imagine Ashton killing him to
do the same, which made him believe Grace’s story. Mick had made valid points, but
Kade didn’t see the devil in Grace. To him, she was a scared girl who’d just killed
her brother to do the right thing.

He felt the hold on his emotions slip as tears streamed in a single path down the
sides of his face. Fighting hard, he managed to hide his crying, and he hoped Grace
wouldn’t notice. The tears were for his sister and X, who were lost to him. The
tears were for Lucas, who was murdered over Kade’s misplaced trust; for Grace, because
he couldn’t fathom killing one of his own siblings; for the Wilson brothers; for
the foamers; for all those who received the vaccine; for the world he had known and
for the Primal Age. Those all merited his tears, but the one person he did not cry
for was himself.

He was already dead; he and the reaper had a date. His own death didn’t concern him,
but he was worried that his failures as a leader would get more people killed. The
Primal Age was something he was supposed to be an expert in, but this trip had shown
him there was a large gap between theory and practice. If it hadn’t been for his
Kevlar, he would already be dead. He had to get his mind around the actualities of
the Primal Age.

Grace turned toward him, pulling against her restraints, and her face seemed to soften
at the sight of his tears.

“You okay?” she asked, wiping her own tears on her shoulder.

He wiped his face with the back of his sleeve and turned his face blank. “Yeah, I’m
fine.”

“What are you going to do to me?”

He tried not to look at her but couldn’t help himself. Her soccer jersey, the same
one he had seen Ashton in a thousand times, was covered in grease and mud. What cut
him deep to the heart, which he kept locked away, were the clean lines her tears
had formed on her dirty face. He tried to give her a reassuring look, but couldn’t
find the strength.

“How’s your arm?” he asked.

“It’s fine. I appreciate Tiny bandaging it. That doesn’t answer what you’re going
to do to me.”

Kade had lost a friend, and two others were missing. In a day, his cohort had been
halved. Grace couldn’t fill all of those roles, but she could fill many of them and
make their lives safer. If it was solely Kade’s decision, he’d give her the chance;
but he couldn’t afford to let her stay if it meant Mick would leave.

“I’m not sure.”

“All I ask is that you make it quick,” Grace said, putting her forehead against the
window and shutting her eyes.

Lucas had been a good friend, but Grace wasn’t the one who’d killed him. If it weren’t
for her, he and Tiny would have died too. In his eyes, they owed her thanks, but
he had already made the mistake of trusting her family. Mick could be right; it could
be a ploy to save herself.

“I don’t plan to hurt you,” Kade replied.

“I’m not worried about you. I’m worried about Mick. I’d want to kill me too.”

“We’ll figure something out. Might just take some time. You have my word: I won’t
hurt you, Grace.”

Grace perked up and grabbed Kade’s forearm. “I can earn my keep. Just give me a chance;
I won’t let you down.”

“Relax. First, we have to convince Mick you aren’t the enemy. Let’s focus on that.”

“Ash used to talk about you. How cool her big brother was. She’s lucky to have you.”

Ash. The mention of Ashton broke the wall he had built around those painful thoughts
of what might have become of her. He hoped that she was alive and okay, but he just
wanted to know what happened to her. X and Ashton vanished into thin air. Kade bit
down on his lip as he forced his mind to focus on driving.

The rest of the trip to Houghton, he felt like a ghost behind the wheel. He attempted
to make small talk with Grace on several occasions, but he couldn’t find the motivation
to continue with Ashton on his mind. He wanted his sister back. The closer they got
to the college, the more he felt the weight around his neck.

A few clusters of bare trees stood in groves as they made their way past what seemed
to be never-ending farm fields. Then the steel light poles peeked above the trees
on the horizon, marking the football field of Houghton College. For a brief moment,
Kade felt excitement rush through him, but faded as fast as it came.

They had arrived at the small college known for sending off their elite to the best
medical schools in the country. This was the college his brother had attended, and
Kade had memorized the layout. It was one of the few things the two of them ever
agreed on: Houghton would be great in the Primal Age.

The eastern boundary of the school grounds was a wide but slow-moving river. At the
northernmost point of the campus, a small stream cut by deep embankments forked
off the creek and curved around to make the western boundary.

The highway the cohort was traveling would continue north, staying west of the creek.
To get to campus they would exit onto route 19 which ran east across both the creek
and stream.

From the air, the way route 19 crossed over the creek and stream looked like a capital
A. Nestled within the empty space of the A was the college campus. The dorms were
situated along the creek and steam, with facility buildings filling in the interior.
The only part of the campus that lay south of route 19 was the sports fields.

Kade reached for the walkie as they continued toward campus on 19. Grace slept against
the door. For the first time, Kade realized he was exhausted. He pushed down the
button on the walkie, taking the effort of pushing a dump truck.

“X, Ash, we’re here,” he said, closing his eyes.

His heart jumped with hope as he heard a static response, and then crashed down when
he heard Tiny’s voice coming from the speaker. “
I’m sorry. They could still turn
up
.”

He didn’t respond, but passed the convoy in the oncoming traffic lane as they crossed
the bridge and turned onto Willow Street, heading north. The entire campus was empty
except for the winter wind. Driving past the campus center and dining hall, Kade
only saw two parked cars.

He led the convoy along the curve of the road, past an old, rustic building that
was three stories tall and had a high, peaked roof, and proceeded to the modern,
six-floor dormitory, Lambian Hall. He parked the van and uncuffed Grace.

Grace rubbed her wrists. “Thanks.”

“I can’t promise you how long you’ll have them off,” he said. He made his way to
the ramp leading to Lambian Hall and waited for the rest of the group to join him.
The ground didn’t give with his step. In the two hours they had driven north, the
temperature had dropped to freezing. Snow would be falling soon.

Argos barreled toward him and circled three times, tail wagging, before he licked
Kade’s hand. As much as Kade didn’t like animals, the dog earned a pass for saving
his life.

The rest of the group came up the ramp. Mick shot a cold glare at Grace, who kept
her eyes on her feet.

Kade turned to face them. “There are five of us, and six floors, so—”

“There are only four of us,” Mick growled.

Grace lowered her head. “I’m sorry. I swear I didn’t know what they were planning.”

Mick stormed toward Grace. Every muscle in Kade tensed as he readied himself to separate
them. Mick pulled his hand back to strike. Grace watched his motion, but didn’t shrink.

“Mick,” Kade said. “I get what you’re feeling. I really do.”

“Lucas didn’t die for you.” Mick turned his heat away from Grace and toward Kade.

“No, but it’s my fault.” Kade approached Mick and put a hand on his shoulder, looking
into his bloodshot eyes. “I trusted them because I wasn’t strong enough to kill them.
If you want to blame someone, blame me.”

They both turned to an eardrum-bursting screech from Victoria. “I don’t understand
why we ever followed you! You’re just going to get us all killed!”

Victoria rushed at Kade and pelted him with her child-sized fists. He didn’t attempt
to block her punches. Her raging attack would have been easy enough to endure even
if he wasn’t wrapped in Kevlar. Argos let out a low growl, but stopped when Kade
scratched the dog’s head. They had all been through enough trauma in the last day.
If this is what she needed to unwind he would endure.

“I’m stuck with all of you imbeciles,” Victoria said and slapped Kade across the
face, causing his ear to ring.

Tiny stepped toward Victoria, but Kade shook his head to call her off. If this is
what it would take, so be it. Tiny’s eyes slashed through him as she watched Victoria
beat on him. He tried to keep his face from showing pain when Victoria landed her
furious fists on the bruised part of his chest.

Mick came forward and grabbed her by the wrists. Hopeless tears built in Victoria’s
eyes as she stared at Kade, then buried her head into Mick’s uniform and sobbed.
Kade understood she was scared; it took all the control he had to keep his own mind
from falling apart.

“Can you keep the cuffs on the Wilson girl for now?” Mick asked, wrapping his arms
around Victoria. Kade looked to Grace. She gave a nod and held her hands out for
him to cuff.

“Mick, I want you to cover the entrance. Tiny and Victoria, you guys take the odd
floors. Grace, me, and the mutt will take evens. Knock twice. Open the door. If something
moves, shoot it. If someone answers the knocks, cuff them and bring them to me right
away,” Kade said.

Tiny patted Kade’s chest where he had been shot and sent a warning glance toward
Grace. “Be careful.”

“You too,” he said, avoiding her eyes.

___________

The pink morning light eased back the night, illuminating the ground between the
willows.
Ashton was wrapped in the sleeping bag, her hair sprawled across the hood to dry.
The soft flicker of the stone-circled fire danced off her pale skin. Their clothes
were hanging on a length of cord secured between the two trees, just out of harm’s
way. X’s revolver laid, cylinder open, with the six cartridges on a flat stone near
the heat. The pack’s contents were splayed near the fire.

The swish of plastic rose over the gurgle of the creek as X jogged in place in a
red emergency poncho. His bare feet packed a flat spot in the grass. He dropped to
the ground, his arms flexed to catch himself in a plank. A shiver ran through him
as he fought to keep his eyes open. Every fiber of his being wanted sleep, but he
wouldn’t have that luxury for at least a day. Once Ashton woke, they would have to
get moving. Traveling on foot wouldn’t be easy.

Ashton tucked her knees and rolled toward the fire. He paused, halfway to the ground,
his eyes fixed on her freckled face. In all the years he had known her, he had never
looked her. He had seen her, of course, as Kade’s little sister, but that had made
her as invisible as air.

He was hardly aware that his biceps were quivering as he looked over her narrow face.
Her long eyelashes interwove like a Venus flytrap. The corners of her mouth pulled
into a smile even as she slept. She was so different from her brothers.

Her green eyes met his through the dancing flames. Caught with his hand in the cookie
jar, he busted out pushups, playing it off like he had been looking ahead the whole
time.

“X?” she asked.

“Forty-seven … forty-eight … forty-nine … fifty … Yeah?” He stopped
and sat on top of his knees while shaking his arms out.

“Why am I naked?”

He rubbed his neck. “What do you remember last?”

“I think we hit a guardrail?”

“We wrecked into a creek, then we got from the car to the bank. You couldn’t go into
the sleeping bag soaking wet, or you’d have died of hypothermia.”

She laughed at him. “
We
? You saved my life. You’re allowed to take credit, and you
could make it sound a little less dull. But let me get this straight—you undressed
me?”

“Just, kind of, while I got you in the sleeping bag. Kade’s going to kill me.”

She shrugged and gave him a sly half-smile. “It’ll be our secret. Where is Kade?”

“I’m guessing Houghton by now. We were pretty far from the road by the time we made
land. I couldn’t leave you alone.”

Ashton sprang to her feet, and the sleeping bag fell to a heap on the ground. X’s
mouth hung open, and he couldn’t stop his eyes from scanning her up and down. Being
an outlaw, as the women liked to call him, he had seen more than his fair share
of naked bodies, but there was something striking about Ashton’s sense of self-confidence.

“Really? You already saw me naked once. Let’s get a move on,” she said pulling her
clothes from the cord.

X pushed off of the cold ground and slowly stood to his full height. He felt like
a seventh grader at a school dance who just realized girls didn’t have cooties. “I
mapped out a path to the nearest town. We’ve got about thirty miles on foot.”

“Then stop talking and break camp.”

He hesitated for a moment because her tone and demeanor were something he was used
to from Kade, but not from this beautiful girl. Shaking off the shock, X dressed,
loaded his pistol, and returned it to his belt. Ashton dropped the cord and stuffed
it into the pack with the rest of their supplies, keeping a protein bar for each
of them. She hoisted the backpack and was sliding her arm through the first strap
when X yanked it from her and slung it onto his own back.

“It’s fitted for me,” he explained.

“Is my name Victoria?”

X cocked his head at her.

“If you’re going to treat me like I’m fragile, I’m telling Kade you saw me naked.”

“Then put the fire out.”

“Fine, Boy Scout.”

“Eagle Scout.”

“Really?”

“Be prepared.”

* * *

The corridors were a chocolate color, with electronically locked fire doors. The
overhead fluorescent lights illuminated every torn thread of the brown carpet. Kade
pressed open one of the heavy fire doors, letting Argos enter ahead of him and keeping
Grace, who was still handcuffed, behind him. On the wall was a poster urging students
to go home to get the Feline Flu shot, since the school would only have limited quantities.

Grace came up alongside him. “Is Tiny your girlfriend?”

“No.”

“Did you guys ever date?”

“Just do your job.”

She went to the first door and knocked. Kade’s heart raced. He didn’t know if he
wanted to hear an answer or not. His eyes narrowed as he focused down his sight.
He wouldn’t make the same mistake twice. He would kill to save his friends. Grace
knocked a second time, pushed the handle down with both of her cuffed hands, and
kicked the door open. Kade stepped into the doorway and swung his aim across the
room.

The room was arranged with a small single bed, a wooden desk and chair, and a chest
of drawers on either side. Judging by the pink sheets and green fluffy pillows,
he was in a girl’s room. He sighed when he found it was empty.

Kade, Grace, and Argos continued down the hallway, checking the rooms; the next six
were empty. As they approached the seventh, Argos emanated a low rumble as his hair
stood on end like a forest of pins. Kade’s hands became clammy as he gripped his
shotgun. The police-standard, pump-action shotgun was beginning to feel familiar.
The black rubber–wrapped grip of the handle and the ribbed pump had formed imprints
in his hands.

He took a deep breath to calm his nerves and then gave Grace a nod. She knocked twice,
and when there was no response, opened the door and moved out of the way. Kade filled
the doorway, aiming down the barrel. At his feet, a red-haired foamer dressed in
a puffy pink coat and black yoga pants was on the floor by the door. The young foamer
sprang to life and threw herself at him. She slammed into his ribs, under the shotgun,
knocking Kade across the corridor into the far wall. As he stumbled to get his balance,
the foamer lunged at him, teeth bared.

Grace stepped between them and kicked the foamer in the chest. The foamer ran on
all fours down the hallway.

Argos snagged her foot in his jaws. The foamer corkscrewed around and slammed her
free foot into Argos’s nose, breaking his grip. She scrambled away with Argos in
pursuit.

Kade called Argos off as he ran down the hallway. The moment Argos passed him, Kade
leveled the shotgun at the running foamer. She was out of lethal range, but he was
out of time. She was almost at the exit doors. He pulled the trigger and the shotgun
kicked into his shoulder as the scattershot barreled down the hall. They peppered
into her pink coat, off the walls around her, and a cluster buried themselves into
her cheek. She burst through the door, which flew open on its hinges, and slammed
shut.

Kade skidded to a stop and pulled out his walkie. “Foamer in the stairwell.”

Grace rubbed his back with cuffed hands. “You okay?”

He worked the shotgun action, discharging the red casing. “I’m sick of foamers.”

* * *

Victoria pushed the handle down and rapped her knuckles against the door. Tiny gave
her a nod. Swinging the door open, Victoria moved to the side, and Tiny stepped in
with the stock of her assault rifle tucked to her shoulder, scanning the room.

“Clear,” Tiny said, lowering the rifle.

Victoria lodged the doorstop into place and went into the hallway. There were signs
hanging from every other door urging students who had the flu to leave school until
they were healthy.

The two of them moved silently to the next door. Tiny brought her rifle to her shoulder
and waited for Victoria to open the door. Victoria grabbed the handle and looked
back at Tiny.

“What?” Tiny asked.

“Don’t do it.”

Tiny rolled her eyes. “We have to check every room.”

Victoria shook her head and took a step toward Tiny, putting her hand on her shoulder.
“I mean … Kade. Don’t do it. I know, end of the world, pickings are slim, but
I’ve been inside the head of his other half. Kade’s dead. All that’s left is for
someone to carve the end date on his tombstone.”

Tiny let her rifle hang from her shoulder and pushed Victoria’s hand off of her.
“Thanks.”

“I mean it. He seems great. He seems wonderful. You can’t get closer than you are.
How long have you known him?”

“Like ten years. Look, we have a job to do—”

“And in ten years, you haven’t been able to land him?”

Tiny uncomfortably ran a hand along her rifle.

“Try now. Make a move. See that I’m right. He’s a dead man walking,” Victoria said.

* * *

Ashton stumbled through the thick woods. X slogged along behind her. He was leaning
on a smooth stick to distribute some of his weight. Logic said he should rest, but
Ashton was soldiering on and he didn’t want to be the weak one. Even if he had the
excuse that he’d been awake all night after saving her from the wreck, he didn’t
want to quit first. It wasn’t even midday yet.

A certain song had come to mind. “
I would walk five hundred miles
—”

Ashton turned around and eyed him up. “Really?”

“It’s catchy.”

“It’s annoying.”

“You can’t hate the song,” he said, walking past her.

“I don’t hate it. I find it annoying.”

“It’s a song about a man who would walk five hundred miles for the woman he loves,
and then walk five hundred more.”

“Would you walk a thousand miles for someone you loved?” She hurried after him.

“No.”

“Then why do you like the song?” she asked, catching up.

“Cause I would walk five hundred miles, and then walk five hundred more.”

“Are you often in love?” she asked, watching his face for any read she could find.

“
And I would walk five hundred more
—” he belted out.

“
And I would walk five hundred more
—” she rolled her eyes and sang along.

“
Just to be the man who walked a thousand miles
,” X continued, then collapsed onto
his knees. He slumped with his arms hanging to his side and stared ahead with glassy
eyes.

The cold water had worn him down, the chilly night had weakened him, the lack of
sleep had left him without recovery, and the march had broken what little strength
he had left. He had pushed himself to the max, but it wasn’t enough.

He didn’t want to delay Ashton’s return to Kade. Kade was the only person X didn’t
want to let down. The two of them went back practically to their births. X had been
raised by a single mom, and was often looked after by Kade’s parents when she was
at work.

X had never bonded with Damian or Ashton, but Kade was the closest thing he had to
a brother. There was nothing that he wouldn’t do for the Zerris family, and Kade
had proved on more than one occasion that their relationship was a two-way street.
Kade had even crossed Mick to keep X from going to jail.

Though X wasn’t a keen believer in Kade’s
Shenanigans
plan, he owed Kade too much
to not help him. He didn’t care if Kade was right or wrong, this was a matter of
loyalty.

Ashton rushed back and knelt beside him, placing her hand on his shoulder. His head
drifted to the side as the fog crept into his mind. He was exhausted, his muscles
were shot, and his body didn’t want to move.

“Catchy?” he asked, referring to the song.

“You must not be in love right now. That was hardly a thousand miles.”

“Five hundred and then five hundred more.”

She smiled, reassuring him. “We’ll make camp here.”

X nodded. At some point he had to listen to his body and rest.

* * *

Tiny held a sheet of wood, which had once been the back of a dresser, against the
frame of a second-floor window. “Do you really think that’ll keep someone out?” she
asked Grace.

The group had finished searching the dorm rooms. In all six floors, they had found
no one truly alive. They had found ten dead bodies and the one foamer that Kade had
peppered with the shotgun. They all split into separate jobs to make the dorm livable
and fortified.

Grace, free from the handcuffs while she was working, drilled a metal screw through
the wood and into the frame. “We’re on the second floor. Not likely anyone will get
this far, and even if they do get through, the stairs will be knocked out. Don’t
worry, I’ll wall up the first floor.”

Grace moved around Tiny as she inserted screws every foot around the perimeter of
the window.

“I didn’t get a chance to thank you.” Tiny paused, not used to the words forming
on her tongue. “So, thanks for saving my life.”

Biting down on her lip, Grace steadied the screw and drilled it home. “It was the
right thing to do.”

“I know it’s rough right now. Mick is taking Lucas’s death a lot harder than I thought
he would. Once he has some time to recover, you’ll see he isn’t so bad,” Tiny said.

She and Grace stood back, looking at the flimsy piece of wood barricading the window.

“Thanks … What’s your real name?” Grace asked.

Tiny rapped a knuckle against the wood. “My father gave me my last name, my mother
gave me my first name, Kade gave me my real name. It’s Tiny.”

“Let me guess: you had trouble fitting in, and he took you under his wing?”

“Making a long story short.” The long story was that she had been so much of a tomboy
that the girls didn’t accept her, but she acted so manly the guys didn’t know how
to treat her. She lied to herself that she was strong enough not to need any of their
approval, but she didn’t realize just how much she wanted it until Kade had taken
to her. He saw right through, as he put it, her
tiny
frame, and accepted everything
there was of her. Once they bonded, everyone else saw her the way he saw her.